Walk a Thousand Miles
by Pseudonym Narcissist
Summary: Shun and Seiya's plane goes down in a suspicious accident up in the mountains and now everyone will have to walk a thousand miles to survive and find each other. Shonen ai HyogaShun, ShiryuSeiya
1. Prologue

Shun fought down the urge to smack Seiya on the back of his head and carry his own bags and instead forced a pleasant smile onto his face. And it was pleasant even if Seiya took one look at his expression and started hurrying oversize blue coat flapping over the flaming red turtleneck and long black slacks stuffed carefully into his equally glaring red rubber boots. Shun himself had donned a thick knee length black coat over deep purple fleece sweater and pants and wrapped a pink scarf around his neck for the occasion.

Athena—or Saori-san as they had probably best be calling her for awhile—was moving back to her company from Greece for a few months. Apparently that she was "Athena" meant very little to the Kiddo's fellow companies and Saori was going to have to set up the foundation so that it could run itself…and in the meantime the Bronze Saints were stuck as body guards of a sort. The Gold Saints weren't about to be uprooted for something like this, but Athena had to be protected. Ikki was adamant that the Saints did not serve "Saori Kiddo" but the undeniable fact was that if Saori died so did Athena.

It wasn't _that_ souring the Shun's usually sweet temperament this afternoon though, nor even that he was stuck watching Seiya today… In fact that was something that he was very much glad to do. Hyoga, Ikki, and Shiryu had left early in the morning with Athena—Saori-san, he reminded himself—as the advance party to help with the actual 'moving in' part. None of them had said it outright, but Seiya trying to help haul a dresser up a set of stairs had not appealed to the Andromeda Saint any more than the others and so he had agreed to wait and take a second small plane with the Seiya later.

None of that brought the edge to his smile as he made his way down the endless steps with the Pegasus Saint though. His forced smile was displayed entirely for the fact that Seiya was racing in front of him and carrying _both _suitcases. Shun fought back another sigh, brushing hair delicately behind his ears and locking his smile as he continued along. He had made the mistake of mentioning (mentioning!) to Athena that morning how heavy his luggage was, but somehow it had clearly gotten back to Seiya as evidenced by the way his fellow Saint had practically swooped in and kidnapped his bag while all the time spouting something about the weather!

Those slim fingers tightened threatening to yank some of the silky green tresses right of his scalp. Whether they would be buried in feet of snow or have to walk through a blizzard to reach the mailbox, Seiya had managed to put him off and get a hold of the suitcase and now he couldn't very well reclaim his bag without completely loosing his dignity. But, Ikki would never find out about this—of that Shun would make absolutely sure.

Surprisingly, Seiya managed to not kill himself or even trip too terribly on the steps despite his added burden and he was going fast too—enough that Shun had to work to keep up with him. It must be all that ridiculous running that he and Milo did up and down the things, the Andromeda Saint decided, or maybe Seiya just had a natural talent for stairs.

The small silver plane with its six seats and blue uniformed pilots was waiting for them at the landing. The two men nodded sharply from the cockpit just short of a salute and Shun felt a bit of discomfort worming its way into today's frustrations. After all, the plane's pilot was Davenport—the same man that had been transporting them since the day they first met Saori Kiddo again after all those years and Shun had thought them beyond the point when the man would be practically bowing. Davenport was old enough to be his father!

Seiya turned back with a smile opening his mouth as though to speak and snapped it shut so quickly Shun was positive he must have bitten his tongue. The smile never quite left the Pegasus Saint's face, but one more hasty glance over his shoulder at Shun had him mumbling something incoherent and hurrying off toward the cabin with the suitcases banging against his knees and Shun realized sourly that at some point the smile had slipped from his face.

This was Hyoga's fault! Somehow he knew it just had to be. The slight green haired Saint picked his way carefully up the metal folding steps, loosening his scarf around his neck and preparing to take his coat off. Seiya had already thrown the two goodly sized suitcases in the back seats and was inmired happily in the middle set pulling the window cover up and down. The Andromeda Saint sighed. There was no point in being angry with anyone but Hyoga now that he had decided it was the Cygnus Saint's fault.

"Sir," the pilot began and Shun started moving out from where he had stopped blocking the door turning as he did, ready to give this 'sir' the sharp side of his tongue and for the first time he noticed that the man wasn't Davenport.


	2. Chapter One

Ikki

Ikki dropped the last box labeled 'living room' down on the top of the heap unceremoniously and moved to where Hyoga was already relaxing against the couch. It had been rather chilly when the three had begun, but by the time they had gotten all of the furniture situated to Athena's—and he _would_ call her that no matter what she asked—wishes, the Saints had all stripped down to the last layer and even then he was grateful for the pitcher of lemonade someone had left out for them on the coffee table. That was another nasty piece of furniture that the Phoenix Saint had hauled up all those stairs.

Hyoga already held a cup in his hand drinking deeply from his sprawling spot on the couch—also Ikki's work—and even Shiryu could be spotted relaxing albeit in a rather more dignified manner with his own glass against the wall. Well that they could relax now—the rest of the unpacking would be for Athena to do herself and the morning had gone without a hitch mostly thanks to him.

Shiryu hadn't wanted Seiya to have any part in hauling furniture—a well founded worry—and Hyoga had been nervous about Shun straining himself to try and lift something that he just wasn't strong enough to manage—also, unfortunately, a well founded worry. Ikki hadn't cared one way or the other, but he had intervened at the last moment to keep both men from sticking their feet right into their mouths. Not that it wasn't amusing to watch that sort of thing from time to time, but Ikki just wanted as little to do with _Athena's _other life as possible and time never few when Shun was angry. Better to step into a pit of vipers and more chance to come out unscathed then risk that it would somehow come back to him.

The Cygnus Saint and the Dragon Saint had been completely prepared to just walk up to Shun and Seiya respectively and tell them their concerns and then expect them to stay behind. Love did funny things to a man's brain. Ikki's way was much safer. If Shun thought he was taking care of Seiya and Seiya thought that he needed to all but carry Shun's very suitcase for him then maybe the two could manage to keep themselves out of trouble—he doubted it though, which was why he hadn't cared one way or another whether the two came or were left until later.

With Seiya there, it was six to one half dozen that there would be trouble and whatever it was should be arriving via Athena's plane any minute now—probably the reason the long black haired Dragon Saint was perched as though waiting at the door and though Hyoga leaned back casually Ikki could tell that he too was ready to spring up as soon as word came. Ikki shook his head slightly taking a firm seat in the heavy black armchair that had almost broken his back on the way up the stairs. In fact Ikki noticed with a frown he had moved _all_ of the furniture in this room. The tall Saint settled back puzzling over his discovery content that two eager watchdogs would provide more than enough warning of whatever was coming. Oh how wrong the Phoenix Saint turned out to be.

The lemonade was long gone and the silence very well deafening by the time an intrusion came upon the three waiting figures in the form of the tallest of the Steel Saints. The boy seemed haggard and breathless, but if he had seemed harried upon entering, one look at who he had burst in upon made his face pale and sweat stand out on his forehead.

"Saori-san…" he began already edging backwards and eyeing the exit. Hyoga had stood and now fixed his gaze icily over crossed arms and a stiff stance. Shiryu carefully lifted a single arm from its place against his chest and just as calmly reached over and closed the door. It shut with a 'thud' oddly loud in the silence and the cornered Steel Saint winced as though it had been the seal on his very coffin. Ikki never moved from his spot in the imposing black chair, but then he didn't need to. Athena's messenger wasn't going anywhere. They'd all been carefully avoiding it for the last hour or so, but Shun and Seiya's plane was late and now one of Athena's personal runners was tearing through the house like his life depended in it—that was too much for coincidence. The young Saint seemed to realize it too, steeling himself visibly and looking at each of their faces in turn mouth set into a grim line.

"I'm sorry," the boy began which would no doubt digress into a long string of unnecessary niceties.

"Save it," Ikki told him roughly, "What's happened?" Six one way to one half dozen the other—it was Seiya. The Steel Saint continued to fidget nervously but began to speak looking carefully at some point beyond the three figures and hurriedly too as though he feared what their reaction would be.

"Daichi's been manning the radio since… Since Shun and Seiya's plane failed to come in." It took the Phoenix Saint a moment to connect the proper fox armored boy to the name supplied, but Shiryu was already motioning for the boy to continue, and he looked stiffer than ever back no longer even touching the wall. The dark eyes were tight with worry. Another time Ikki might have accused the other man of overreacting, but something about the hunted look that their informant wore stirred uneasiness in the pit of his own usually iron stomach. If something had happened to his little brother or Seiya…

The first was much scarier, but the second far more likely. Perhaps that was why Hyoga seemed more impatient than anything else.

"Well?" the blond demanded tapping a foot and with one last look at the closed door behind him the Steel Saint seemed to resign himself finally that there was indeed no escape. The rest came out in a rush.

"Daichi's been manning the radio—he got a relay signal bounced through another pilot. It was from the Sarengay—Shun and Seiya's plane—a 30 second mayday that simply cut off." A stone seemed to have lodged itself somewhere in the Phoenix Saint's throat, freezing him to the spot. Mayday meant that the Plane had gone down, and a mayday that cut off… Fear had a vice grip around his heart as he forced himself to stand up slowly.

"Take us to the control room." Ikki's voice was pure ice.

Shiryu

_Seiya… _Shiryu's face could have been carved of stone for all the expression it revealed, but inside the Dragon Saint was a roiling mass of warring emotions, the most prevalent among them fear. _Seiya… _He barely breathed into the dead silence that followed the four Saints to the control room.

Daichi sat in the main seat with his back to the door hands working tirelessly at the panel before him, his young voice seeming oddly loud and angry after the deathly silence of the march down.

"That doesn't make any sense!" the little fox was yelling into a black headset fixed lightly over one ear with an attached microphone which he fingered absently. "Look," the boy continued on unaware of the presence of the three Bronze Saints behind him in the doorway, "Find me the name of the plane that relayed the original signal and get them on the radio! If Sarengay was going down I want to know why the nearest plane to receive the mayday isn't there already!" The boy surged out of his chair and slammed his hand down hard on the control panel in front of him cutting off the transmission.

"It just doesn't make any sense," the little Saint mumbled to himself once more resuming the seat, only to hop up and out of it just as quickly as he noticed the ominously silent procession that stood just inside the doorway. "Saori-san…" he began with an accusing look at his fellow Saint, but Shiryu's stone façade was flaking off bit by bit and he could hold his peace no longer. The control room, the radio signals—these were real in a way even the Steel Saint's dire message had not been. _Oh Seiya…_

"What happened?" the Dragon Saint demanded. He had moved unconsciously a few steps in front of the others to stand directly before the little Steel Saint and make his plea. There were so many questions. So many things had gone wrong. _Seiya…_ "Are they alright?" The words were tumbling from his mouth even though he already knew the answer. If only his voice didn't sound so desperate. _Oh Seiya… _

Daichi held his hands out with a defeated sigh. "We don't know," he admitted shaking his head slowly.

"Where did the plane go down?" Ikki took up form somewhere behind him. The Phoenix's voice seemed harsher than ever and Daichi actually flinched turning toward the older man with downcast eyes and a set expression.

"We don't know," the boy repeated biting his lip.

"Well why was the plane running late in the first place?" Ikki continued none to kindly moving forward to stand beside Shiryu. Daichi looked terrified, wide eyed moving between the imposing Phoenix Saint and his Steel comrade who still hovered at the doorway.

"We don't know," he said desperately spreading his hands again helplessly. "We don't know!" He looked as desperate as the Dragon Saint felt. They weren't going to get anywhere like this, Shiryu knew, he had to calm down, but _oh Seiya!_

"What do we know?" the long haired Saint asked quietly, surprised at how steady his own voice sounded in his ears. Daichi seemed to relax a little confronted by a question to which he knew the answer, stepping back to draw them further into the control room.

"What we do know," he explained taking a breath, "Is that the Sarengay left Greece right on time and then went down with a mayday approximately 3 hours later, but from what I can gather, the message was picked up by a private jet thousands of miles in the wrong direction from where the Sarengay's flight path should have taken it, and, at the time of the crash at least, neither Captain Davenport nor the Second Pilot were flying the plane. The mayday…" Daichi trailed off for a moment looking at the floor uncomfortably before steeling himself and straightening.

"Maybe you'd better just listen to the signal." Daichi didn't even wait for an answer before bounding over to the control panel, but none of them had given one in any case. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. If only he had never tried to leave Seiya behind this never would have happened. Shiryu's hands clenched into fists at his sides. If anything had happened to either of them he would never forgive himself. The little Steel Saint continued to chatter as he typed on the controls quickly with both hands adding the clatter of the keys to his voice.

"The original jet that picked up the signal seems to have just disappeared—the pilot left no response or message, but set the mayday on relay until it was picked up by another vessel, a commercial aircraft too far away and without enough fuel to even consider a rescue, so it continued to relay until I finally managed to pick it up from the main building of the Kiddo foundation…here."

The clatter of the keys stopped and Shiryu felt his heart skip a beat as first the silent buzz of the recording jumped out from the speakers followed by…chaos. Something was roaring in the background, a deep throaty growling that could only be the engine, fluctuating between a heavy unnatural rumble and a heart stopping guttering that seemed would give out at any moment. All sorts of alarms and warnings were going off filling the speakers before a voice finally came on. It could only have been a few moments, but Shiryu knew the sounds were burned into his mind because this is what Seiya had heard before…

"_Mayday! Mayday!"_

All three of the men started at the light terrified voice that drowned out the rest of the horror to a terrible droning roar in the background. Shun! What was the Andromeda Saint doing at the controls?

"Shun…" Ikki breathed mirroring the Dragon Saint's own thoughts and stiffening at his side.

"_This is the Sarengay!" _the panicked voice continued impossibly slowly, _"Is anybody reading me? I repeat this is the Sarengay! We're loosing altitude fast!" _The tone had risen now and the engine gave a particularly violent roar that quailed the speaker on the other end to silence for a few seconds forcing those in the room to once more endure the painful din of the Sarengay's failing systems. Shun had lost all composure and a loud crackling now coated the entire message, but his words were still crystal clear.

"_We're going to crash!...Seiy…!" _And then it cut off. Shiryu almost jumped at how loud the silence seemed after that horrible message. Daichi was looking everywhere but at the three Bronze Saints, and his partner had disappeared—probably to go find Athena some part of his mind that could still think filled in, but it didn't matter. The whole building could have fallen in at that very moment and Shiryu would have been rooted to that very spot. The last hellish words of that transmission were burned like a broken record into his mind. _We're going to crash!...Seiy…!_

Seiya—Shun had been screaming for Seiya. Had the Andromeda Saint been in trouble or was it Seiya himself? And they had crashed. All that terrible noise and Shun had been so frightened and Seiya… They had to be alright, they just had to.

"Why did the message cut off?" Ikki was demanding of the little Steel Saint.

"We don't know." Hyoga's eyes were pure ice but for the wetness at their corners that threatened to run down his cheeks. His mouth was set into a grim line as he stared down the motionless control panel.

_We're going to crash!...Seiy…! _The words played over and over in Shiryu's mind with their hellish background.

"Where was Davenport or the Second Pilot!" Ikki was practically yelling now and Daichi cringed before him but it was pity that shone through the young Steel Saint's eyes.

"We don't know," he continued to repeat just shaking his head. "We don't know." Hyoga still had not moved an inch—the tears remained unshed from his ice blue eyes.

_We're going to crash!...Seiy…! _The icy hand kept squeezing around Shiryu's heart even as Ikki continued to demand answers from the helpless Steel Saint, but all he could hear were those same words over and over in his mind. _Seiya…oh Seiya!_


	3. Chapter Two

Seiya

Seiya opened his eyes to a sort of dim darkness and tried to struggle up to his feet as his memory caught up with him. Something heavy was weighting down his back and his head immediately burned and throbbed almost spinning him back off the edge into unconsciousness, but Seiya was a fighter first and foremost and forced himself to hold onto his senses with an unwavering tenacity even as his body collapsed back down bonelessly to the ground, his cheek pressed once more hard against the matted floor of the Sarengay. The aching throb ebbed but did not leave entirely and the Pegasus Saint was reminded that he should be glad to have woken up at all.

Things had gotten confusing right after he had gotten onto the plane, but the last few moments stood out glaringly in his mind. The engine had been burning out and Shun had been yelling for help on the radio when a rock outcropping had broken into the front part of the plane shattering through the window. He had tried to throw himself in front of Shun—maybe the Andromeda Saint had yelled something at him…his mouth had been moving, but all Seiya could remember clearly was a wide frightened pair of blue eyes before something had hit him… Or maybe he had hit something… And then everything had gone black.

The plane wasn't moving anymore though, so they must have crashed. Then he had made it, but what about Shun? Worry for the other warrior gave Seiya the determination to try and force himself up once again, gritting his teeth against the flaring ache in his head that brought dark spots to dance in front of his already dim vision. Something bit deep into the palm that he lay against the floor but he ignored it and pushed up against the weight on his back. Something shifted above and a steady light streamed in before him illuminating the scene. The pressure on his back had lessoned and he worked the screaming muscles of his legs painfully to climb to his hands and knees. Every movement shot fire through his short form. It felt like he'd just been thrown into a ring with Thor and Aldebaran blind and neither had been very kind.

Pain wasn't about to stop him now though, especially not when he and Shun could still be in danger, and how would Shiryu and Hyoga and Ikki manage without them? One agonizing limb at a time Seiya worked himself out from beneath the blue padded seat under which he had been pinned. The floor under his hands was stained and darkened and his shirt stuck to him in sticky bunches. Crimson was certainly not a good color, but he'd had worse—he must have since he was still conscious and inching his slow way from beneath the rubble.

His last memory was up at the radio with Shun but he wasn't in the cockpit any longer and if his body was any indication, it hadn't been a pleasant journey that ended with him under the uprooted chairs of the cabin. One last bloody hand print brought him free finally of the rows of chairs that had been literally ripped free leaving scratched metal holes gaping and sharp in their wake. The front of the plane had been crushed inward at the last and a jut of rock and butt end of an uprooted tree crammed impossibly around the bent metal of what must have been the cockpit. Two rows of seats remained intact, though those nearest the isle were dented inward and it was halfway on one of these that Seiya's eyes immediately darted to the green and purple that stood out against the blue and red painted scene.

A moment ago he had wondered whether he could even stand, but confronted with Shun's unmoving body sprawled half into the unbroken seat, the Pegasus warrior found his feet beneath him even though his hands held desperately to the very pile which had buried him for support and his head spun dizzily in warning.

"Shun!" the name tore from his lips in fear. The battered warrior half limped, half ran in a flailing gait that brought him to the fallen Andromeda Saint's side before his knees gave out. Kneeling beside his companion, Seiya bent over and half turned lifting the slim figure off of the blue padding and to his lap.

"Shun!" he begged, shaking the figure lightly. "Shun…Shun!" The Andromeda Saint was alive and there didn't seem to be any blood on him, or at least any of his own blood as Seiya's hands had left bright crimson prints against the violet fleece.

"Oh Shun!" Seiya felt tears welling up in his eyes ready to spill.

"Unnn," the other Saint moaned in his arms stirring. Seiya froze perfectly still simply holding his green haired companion. Blue eyes cracked open slowly and a slight smiled touched Shun's lips.

"Seiya," it was no more than a sigh really, but pure relief was etched on his features. "You're alive! When we hit the mountain…" Shun trailed off lifting a pale hand with a delicate wince to lay on Seiya's cheek. His fingers came away red.

"Oh Seiya…" the Andromeda Saint struggled up out of the Pegasus's grasp and onto his own knees facing Seiya with a strange expression, but he was alright and that was what mattered. They were both alright…or at least, they were both alive.

Shun

Shun pulled gingerly at Seiya's dark locks trying to determine how bad the damage inflicted by the crash really was. Gingerly because his right arm hung uselessly at his side and he was not so practiced at first aid with left, but this injury needed to be seen to. It seemed to be bothering the Pegasus Saint and that was evidence enough to the green haired warrior that is wasn't good at all, but with all the blood, even dry, there was no way to tell for sure. In truth he was just glad that Seiya was even breathing—glad enough that when he had woken up in the Pegasus Saint's arms he had only been able to cry for long, long moments that had nothing to do with his own aches and pains.

Seiya's injury during the crash was the most frightening thing Shun had ever seen in his life. He'd truly thought his companion was…

But Seiya wasn't dead and that was what mattered. Even if the image of that rock outcropping coming through the window would never leave. Then the memory of Seiya throwing himself in front of Shun directly in its path as the very metal of the plane crushed inward on them, and then Seiya had been hit—literally ripped away from the Andromeda Saint and thrown backwards. Shun's fingers moved smoothing the black locks in an almost desperate manner. It wasn't good, but the Pegasus Saint was alive. That was why he'd knelt there just crying and holding onto Seiya—because he was alive when Shun had been so sure. There was nothing to be done for either of their injuries though.

Shun sat back and felt his fellow Saint relax from where he had endured the Andromeda Saint's ministrations dutifully on the dead log. Seiya was not in the best of ways and simply the fact that despite an end to Shun's examination he remained silently seated was a dead give away to any who knew the lively man. There was nothing else to be done because the First Aide materials had been in the cockpit along with the radio and anything else they might have used. The only thing that had managed to survive the crash besides the two Saints themselves was Seiya's suitcase. Amidst an entire cabin full of crushed metal and uprooted chairs the fat green bag had somehow come out without even a scratch. Its contents had been a welcome surprise.

The little silver plane had crunched against a rock outcropping before taking a nose dive through a stand of pine trees and coming to stop finally in a snow bank, though neither of them had been conscious by that point. Shun had only a vague idea of even the direction they had come from. They had no means of communication—the sweet green haired Saint had thought them saved for one elated moment upon discovering his cell phone lying unbroken in the snow. He had almost laughed and called out to Seiya but then he had picked it up. No service, it read like some sort of terrible cosmic joke. No service—no use—no help! The elation had turned to ash in his mouth and he had almost thrown the thing off into the snow covered bank in sheer frustration, but common sense held his hand and forced him to carefully hit the little black button that would cut off that torturous message and conserve what batteries were left. It made a fat bulge in his pocket, but he couldn't bear to tell Seiya—he didn't want to spread false hope.

The one godsend had been that at least they wouldn't freeze immediately. Seiya had clearly taken whoever had told him about the forecasted cold at Saori-san's company straight to heart and his suitcase had been filled with coats and sweater and pants and boots and not a single one of them actually Seiya's which Shiryu had been sure to pack and bring himself on the earlier plane. Thinking of the number of Gold Saints that would simply have to shiver or break down and buy more clothes if it got cold had almost brought a smile to his face—almost but the cold wind biting through his ripped purple fleece was enough to remind him that they would need every single one of those pilfered pieces just to survive.

Slowly, slowly, the Andromeda Saint realized, he was accustoming himself to the thought that they were going to have to make it out here. No one had ever picked up the mayday and the men that had hijacked the plane had taken them in a different direction and deep into the mountains. Hyoga and Ikki and Shiryu…they would search and search desperately, but they wouldn't even know where to begin. Shun and Seiya were on their own.

Seiya stood finally looking steadier than he had since Shun had wakened to his frightened eyes bending over him and his expression had regained some of the old flame. No matter what Seiya's actions though, Shun would remember that the Pegasus Saint had saved him at his own expense—fat chance of forgetting when there wasn't even water to wash the blood properly from the other man's face. He would take care of Seiya, Shun promised himself silently, but it was at him that the Pegasus was looking and with an almost sympathetic expression at that! Seiya's personality simply belied the other's protective impulse.

"We can't stay here Shun," Seiya's voice sounded almost apologetic. "Cause they might know where we crashed…" There was no need to specify who _they _were. Davenport had never been on the Sarengay. Seiya was still thinking like a warrior, but he was right and unfortunately whoever it was that wanted him and Seiya would know roughly where the plane had gone down. Shun was already nodding as he struggled up form the dead log, but that apologizing look had still not left the short Pegasus Saint's face. He looked Shun straight in the eyes too, the way he was always in the habit of doing before he said something frank. Guile was not even in Seiya's vocabulary and tact wasn't far behind.

"It's better if you just set it sooner." Seiya was the very image of concern. "Your arm I mean, Shun. I can do it," the black haired Pegasus continued on earnestly, "Shion taught me a long time ago because he thought I'd probably need to be able to set my own something someday…" He trailed off looking at Shun was a completely open expression that begged the other Saint to allow him to help.

_Good start I've got taking care of Seiya, _Shun thought bitterly. The pain shooting up his arm seemed to deepen at the very suggestion.

"I know I'm not a doctor…" Seiya was babbling on, "But really I…"

"It's okay," Shun cut in and this time he didn't even have to force the gentle smile—or at least not much. "I trust you Seiya."

It was quite an ordeal getting the Andromeda Saint out of the huge thick coat he had forced himself into while the shock of the crash had still dulled all of his sensations and despite the biting chill of the approaching evening he began to wish he had never seen the huge gray covering that brought tears to his eyes from the aching fire that buzzed and burned up the length of his arm with every button that Seiya carefully unsnapped. Slipping it off of the appendage finally almost made Shun faint—avoided only because how would he take care of Seiya if he passed out? No matter if tears streamed now or the Saint whimpered and moaned in a way ever he could only describe as piteous. Seiya didn't say anything though, for which Shun was grateful; only continued on as gently as possible.

The purple fleece of his last layer had already been ripped at the seam along the shoulder and the Pegasus was strong enough to tear the last hanging bit under his arm without jostling him too much. The purple material slipped easily from the slim pale arm to pile on the stark white snow. Shun couldn't bring himself to look away form the violet spread because he knew what was coming next. The Andromeda Saint bit his lip hard eyes burning as Seiya carefully fingered his slim arm lifting it carefully and studying the break for what seemed like a painful eternity—or at least Shun assumed that was what the short black haired Saint was doing…he couldn't bring himself to look.

"On three Shun." The hands took a screamingly firm grip one above his elbow and the other at his wrist. The Andromeda turned his head away squeezing his eyes shut. He couldn't even bring himself to nod, but Seiya seemed to understand.

"One…" The green haired Saint's breath grew ragged between his lips and his heartbeat quickened in helpless anticipation. "Two…"

Snap! The hands around his arm jerked suddenly once sending him spiraling dizzily for a moment and tearing a scream from his throat. Shun held onto consciousness through sheer desperation and when his eyes cleared Seiya was helping him back down to a seat on the log. His arm still throbbed but it was better somehow—not quite so jarring. But Still!

"What happened to three?" the sweet green haired Saint gasped, regaining his breath.

"Shion taught me that too," was the reply.

If Seiya had been smiling Shun would have slapped him injuries or not, but as it was, the Pegasus Saint simply regarded him with the same completely open and trying expression he had been wearing when they started and it would certainly be up to Seiya to carry anything they could bring for a long while. The Andromeda Saint couldn't even manage to put on his own coats at the moment and the day was long from over if they were going to start away from the crash.

_I'll find a way to take care of him, _Shun promised bitterly as Seiya stumbled toward him holding out the coat they had so laboriously rid him of before. _Somehow, I'll keep him safe._

Hyoga

"Are you sure you won't come with us?" Hyoga asked Ikki once again, though the ice-eyed Saint already knew the answer before the older man had even begun shaking his head.

"Three people wandering out in the wilderness won't have any better hope than two, you fools, and I've got some chance to help if I figure out what happened…and who's responsible." The deadly tone the other had adopted at the last made it more than clear what fate awaited the soul on whom guilt eventually came to rest. The Phoenix Saint was first in that line, but Hyoga too wanted his chance to take retribution upon those at fault…he just had to find Shun first.

The Cygnus Saint had stood their frozen in front of that message board at the control panel while his precious love's voice screamed and cried in terror and there hadn't been anything that he could do. Even as Shun's brother had begun taking action and grilling the little Steel Saint whatever-his-name-was, Hyoga had not been able to bring himself to think of anything else because it all boiled down to on thing. Shun had needed him and he hadn't been there.

Oh, Hyoga knew he was far from the perfect boyfriend—Shun made sure he knew—but when it had really mattered he had always been there before, and it had mattered so many times. Standing there and listening to that plea for help Hyoga himself had been helpless and unable to do anything, but he could do something now. Even without an exact pinpoint, Daichi had been able to track the relay backward to a general area, and at first things hadn't looked better.

The area that came up was in the high Servin Mountains resting right on the border—a veritable wasteland with few roads and none of them opened past the first snow which had coated the ground months ago in the high country. It was also a no-fly zone. The deep passes blacked radio signals, confused sensors, and had even been known to kill equipment. There would be no chance of sending out search craft in the air, or even taking their own plane past the banks of the first peaks. Hyoga hadn't been able to do anything standing there in the control room, but he would walk from wherever Saori-san's plane left them. He would walk a thousand miles if that was what it took and he would not quit until Shun was back safely in his arms.

It had been Shiryu who had finally broken through the mess that the message had left in the control room and woken Hyoga from his own helplessness. The Dragon Saint had just stared for a long, long time and then turned around slowly, walked to his room, and began packing. Saori had refused to give them a plane until morning and the Dragon Saint had almost had to be restrained to keep from just setting out on foot into the dark, but logic had prevailed in the other man's mind and Athena had her way.

And now… Hyoga and Shiryu were each loaded up with backpacking gear and everything they would need to survive alone in the Servins—everything that Shun and Seiya did not have—as well as an open frequency radio to keep a sign out for transmissions from the Serengay or the foundation. Shiryu had arranged it all in a calm deadly silence that had everyone on edge, and even now the long black haired Saint was no more than a statue in the seat behind Hyoga's.

The Cygnus Saint didn't know how the other man managed. He had started yelling—first at Daichi, a hoarse demanding that finally chased the tears from his eyes. He had yelled at the Steel Saint, and Ikki, and even Athena until he didn't even know what he was yelling anymore. Shiryu might seem unaffected to someone who didn't know him well, but Hyoga was not someone who didn't know him well, and though it was true that the Dragon Saint was always quiet and calm, there was a certain rigidness to his shoulders—a certain set to the grim line of his mouth and an overall feeling that left no doubt in the Cygnus Saint's mind that Shiryu was anything but calm.

But if Hyoga had panicked, it seemed that the Dragon Saint had been spurred to a sort of grim determination that left room for nothing else in the other's mind. Shiryu would find Seiya, he would find Shun, and Ikki would find whoever had done this and Make. Them. Pay.


	4. Chapter Three

Seiya

Seiya trudged. There was no other way to describe the desperate plodding that took the Pegasus Saint slowly through the snow. Despite that he wore enough clothes for three people or that Milo's boot's protected his feet, the cold had managed to seep into his very bones—an ever constant ache in his hands and feet to add to the already constant pain he had been suffering since they crashed the day before. Seiya trudged because it was all that he could do to stay upright and keep putting one foot in front of the other.

They had found a small cave to shelter in the night before; an old burrow of some animal or another that had been long since abandoned but it had been large enough for both Saints to squeeze into and if not warm than at least tolerable in comparison to the bitter air. They had no food though Seiya didn't imagine he could have managed anything in any case, but they had found an empty soda bottle shoved into the side pocket of his suitcase and filled it with snow that melted slowly and burned with freezing cold in every sip—it was water though.

The little burrow had warmed eventually so that by morning it was a trial to take their stiff bodies back out into the elements, but Seiya hadn't slept at all, and Shun not much more. They had tried to talk at first, but Seiya's skull had been splitting as though he had one of Thor's axes buried in it and sound had died out quickly. Shun had taken hold of him though, even through layer and layers of clothes and gloves and though it was too dark to see the sweet green haired Saint's expression the tightness and desperation in that grip was enough that Seiya understood. Shun was frightened…for him. Seiya's return grip was just as firm.

The Pegasus Saint had to be strong. He had tried to pretend that he was warm and with Shiryu and the other man had warned him that if he squirmed one more time he would be sleeping on the couch!—that was why he had to be still…not because the splitting pain in his scalp made him terrified that if he closed his eyes he might never open them again. He had wanted to pretend he was sleeping for Shun's sake.

One foot in front of the other Seiya trudged. The Andromeda Saint was leading them now and Seiya trusted the green haired man to know the way. The sun had never quite come out of the clouds entirely and a bitter wind had picked up that nipped bitterly at their faces even unable to penetrate the many layers on their persons. One foot in front of the other.

He and Shun had made it through the night—which meant that for Seiya the worst was over. He had waited up and greeted the Sun and they were both alive to see it, and Seiya would see them to the end. Shiryu was waiting for him and Hyoga was waiting for Shun, and that fact was like a glowing beacon over the horizon that he would walk a thousand miles to reach. He had something important to go back too. The wilderness was just one more enemy on the long list of obstacles that the Pegasus had faced, and no matter how many times it knocked him down, he would just keep getting right back up.

One foot in front of the other, Seiya trudged.

Ikki

"He's on his way sir." Ikki didn't even bother to look at whatever errand boy Athena had running for him at the moment, just nodded absently as he continued to peruse through the papers he had had sent to him from the Kiddo Foundation on his way back to Greece.

Davenport had been found late the night before tied up with his co-pilot in the storage closet of the small strip near the bottom of the temples stairs. He had been uninjured though, and more worried about the plane and its occupants, which was all to the good in Ikki's book. It wasn't Davenport that held the Phoenix's Saint's unwavering attention though. No…the proud gaze was locked completely on the papers spread out on the table before him as he searched through them with a fine tooth comb to drag out any little detail that might clue him as to what had happened and why.

The 'why' was just as important as the 'what' in the Phoenix Saint's mind because it was the 'why' that would pave his trail back to the source and that was where this problem had to be beaten. He had, had a long time to think about it the night before and what Ikki had come up with was unpleasant. Unpleasant because the Phoenix Saint wanted as little to do with the person that went by the name of Saori Kiddo as possible, and that was where this all started.

His first thought upon hearing about 'the accident' had been that it was another attack upon the Saints themselves as they'd experienced in the past, but that theory had about as much chance of holding water as Swiss Cheese. Anyone who wanted to challenge a Saint was welcome to and anyone who wanted Athena dead would have no reason to lay this sort of trap on the Sarengay. The trap itself was a puzzle too. If this enemy had wanted his little brother and Seiya dead there were certainly better and more effective ways of going about it than trying to crash their plane, which all led Ikki to believe that this had not been an attack against the Saints of Athena, but a political maneuver against Saori Kiddo.

Somebody had wanted Seiya and Shun alive to use as leverage and the crash was the unexpected factor. Neither Shun nor Seiya was fool enough to try flying a plane themselves, which mean that something had happened to the original kidnappers but that was likely. Whether he was one of the lesser among the Saints, Shun was no weakling to take an abduction lying down and neither was Seiya. Then that would account for the missing pilots, and possibly the crash itself, but that still left the 'why.'

What could somebody hope to gain from Saori Kiddo by holding Shun and Seiya—or maybe more importantly, who would know that they _could _gain something from Saori Kiddo by holding the pair. _All _of the Saints had been adamant at separating Athena whom they served from the lavender haired business woman who ran the Kiddo Foundation and as far as the Phoenix knew none of Saori's fellow companies should even be aware of the Saints existence, but that wasn't the case clearly, because his little brother and Seiya were in trouble and god only knows where at this very second!

Ikki forced himself to relax smoothing the paper he had unwittingly crumpled into a ball in his fist in anger. It was all the information from management to employee information that the Steel Saints had been able to dig up on Albiecorp, the first of the Kiddo Foundation's business partners and also the first of the set of companies that Miss Saori would be meeting with in the next few weeks. His eyes drifted unthinkingly to the complete list. Daichi had shoved it in straight off of Athena's desk, still printed on an overhead for presentation purposes and backed now with a plain white sheet of paper and sitting in the place of honor at the head of the document littered table.

Ikki picked it up cursing colorfully as the damn backing page slipped out leaving the flimsy clear sheet folded over his hand and righted the mess glaring at the list. There were nine names for the nine companies that Saori would be meeting with from that with Albiecorp which would take place that very weekend to EC Enterprises in just over a month. Nine: Albiecorp, NCT, Worthings, Do Co Mo, Exabite, Shaparel Networking, JTB Industries, Nodiesop, and EC Enterprises, and one of them was behind what had happened.

On the surface they all seemed like just what they claimed and had the evidence—at least on paper—to be approaching the Kiddo Foundation, but one of them was not was it appeared to be and there had to be some clue somewhere that would single them out—he just had to find it. Maybe Davenport would have something useful to add or could at least confirm for certain that abduction had been the primary purpose of those who had hijacked the Sarengay. Ikki wasn't holding his breath over it though. Davenport had been bound and gagged and somehow the Phoenix doubted the culprits had stopped and introduced themselves first, but it was something to do in any case and Ikki knew he had to keep busy or he might as well be out hiking through the snow with those two lucky bastards he had seen off yesterday…or was it two days now?

The Phoenix Saint was just too practical for that. In the end, where he was needed the most right now was in front of this infuriating stack of papers making the pieces come together. It had to be one of the nine companies on his list, but which one and 'why'.

Shiryu

_Oh Seiya… _Shiryu's mind would give him no peace. He led the way with Hyoga a blue specter at his heels through the ever still and clear beauty of the untouched Servin Mountains. Another time such a grand display of nature would have been breathtaking to one who grew up in the Five Old Peaks of China, but now the long haired Dragon Saint barely noticed.

"They have to be okay," he heard Hyoga muttering to himself as he did every so often. The two of them didn't speak much, but there was a sort of camaraderie in the shared silences and the Dragon and Cygnus Saint had never had much to say to each other in any case. Shiryu wasn't thinking straight and he knew it, but somehow knowing didn't change anything. Seiya was in trouble and nothing else in the world even seemed to matter anymore. All the little things that had been so important at one time or another just seemed to fade into the one all time consuming thought that if he lost Seiya, Shiryu would have nothing left.

It wasn't so bad now and during the day when he could tell himself that Seiya and Shun were strong and they were probably already on their way down the mountains. He could force all of his effort into making his feet move at a ground eating pace while his eyes always searched and searched the horizon and his pulse quickened at the crest of every hill, but the nights always came bleak and dark and seemed to swallow away all of his hope in their bitter cold. Hyoga would just keep repeating that they were alright and Shiryu would just keep nodding because it was all he could do.

Because at night when they threw up the two man tent after having trekked from the first light to the last and sat there splitting whatever ration Hyoga had pulled out, there was no escaping the inevitable fact that somewhere, Seiya and Shun were out in this. How terrible the thought that Seiya might be somewhere hurting and scared crying for him in the dark, but how much worse if he wasn't…

"They have to be alright," Hyoga continued on his litany and Shiryu just nodded as his eyes continued to scan the horizons in their ever desperate search into the deepening dusk of twilight. He nodded because that was all he could do.

Dark was falling and this would mark the fourth night since Seiya and Shun had been lost in these mountains. Hope was getting harder and harder to dredge from the depths of his soul and the growing blackness was like a stain working its way around his heart, but if he lost Seiya, he would loose everything. So, he would continue to nod every time Hyoga reassured himself desperately that there was still a chance and even if hope slipped away completely he would just walk—walk a thousand miles.


	5. Chapter Four: new stuff starts here

Shun

Food, Shun and Seiya found, was the real problem. With the snow deep and plentiful water was always at hand; with Seiya's ridiculous packing, though the cold was bitter and terrible, they would persevere; but in this barren wilderness there was simply no food to be had, and Shun and Seiya quickly discovered that they were not the only ones in the forest starving this winter.

Shun's arm still throbbed, but the sweet pink armored Saint barely noticed the pain any longer from beyond the constricted knot of his stomach that seemed must be wrapped completely around his backbone by now. It had been days and days since they had eaten anything—Shun couldn't even remember how many. That was bad wasn't it? Or maybe it didn't matter and this whole grueling march was just some sort of terrible dream and he could wake up and kiss Hyoga and then yell at his boyfriend for letting him sleep too long! The Cygnus Saint was always indulging him when he shouldn't have been, but some part of Shun's mind knew that those thoughts were the dream and the constant ache in his middle the reality.

Where did Seiya find the energy? The Pegasus Saint's injuries were clearly no more healed than Shun's own, and Seiya had had not a bite more to eat, but somehow the other Saint managed to start them off every morning with a smile and say 'we'll make it.' Not that either of them had the energy for much more talk than that, but somehow it was clear in the very set of Seiya's shoulders, even when he stumbled, or shivered, or fell, that he really was completely sure that they would make it. Seiya had hope and it gave Shun heart. Seiya could make impossible things happen, the Andromeda Saint had seen it, so perhaps even if it was hard to trust in himself or some distant dream he could keep his hope safe with Seiya.

The Pegasus Saint led them ever on breaking trail through the snow covered forest, avoiding what obstacles he could and crossing carefully those he could not, and it was at one such crossing of a deeply snow packed valley where the white drifts came all the way to the Pegasus's waist that the two Bronze Saints were forced to meet their next challenge. The Servin Mountains were inhospitable in the best of times, but this winter was not the best of times and with food scarce, starvation drove the wolves of the barren forest to seek food even where they would never have dared before.

The only advantage that the two Bronze Saints had as the pack came growling and howling into the clearing was that the creatures were as awkward in the deep snow drifts as the humans—but that was barely worth counting, for haggard as the pair was from the ordeal of the last days the wolves were much, much faster. Shun was screaming and scrabbling about his person for something—anything!—with which to protect himself, but there simply wasn't anything to be had. The Andromeda didn't even have both arms…and they would reach him first.

If fate saw fit to bring him through this in one piece he would never refuse a hand to hand combat lesson from his brother ever again! A quick glance showed Seiya fighting to come back to him from where the Pegasus had gotten ahead breaking trail, throwing his short form against the towering drifts in desperate determination, but he couldn't count on Seiya for a rescue—the other man had no more a weapon than the Andromeda and only slightly more of a chance… Still, the green haired Saint found himself unable to stop from crying out in fear as the shaggy brown and gray bodies loped closer and closer against the white background of the deserted expanse they had fallen into.

Pink tongues lolled and saliva dripped from stained and chipped fangs with starving expectation fierce in the dark, dark eyes. Shun screamed and tried to move backward as the snow that slowed him trapped his form and kept him rooted to the spot.

"Shun! Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid! Scream at them! Shun!...I'm coming!" But Seiya was still somewhere behind him and the wolves were now right in front. He tried to scream at them like the Pegasus Saint said—to make them think that he wasn't afraid, but in the end he just screamed. His one free arm scrabbled desperately at his person for something he could use even as wet tears had gathered in absolute terror at the corners of his eyes. Seiya wasn't going to make it, but it wouldn't matter because against a whole pack of wolves trapped as they were, neither of them would make it.

The closest of the wolves was gathering into a crouch to spring, others coming up to the Andromeda's right and left and Shun's terrified shouts ended as the green haired Saint huddled back against the snow in complete silence closing his eyes and resigning himself while at the same time preparing for the pain that would come and swearing that he would make Ikki proud in his last battle no matter what he had.

Slim pale fingers closed around something in the huge pocket of the pants even as the Andromeda Saint sent a prayer and his ever lasting love to Hyoga, and waited for whatever might come.

_**Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells! Jingle all the Way!**_

_**Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh! HEY!**_

Shun's eyes sprang back wide open in surprise falling first to the wolves who had mercifully stopped to the source of the blaring techno music which was the cell phone he clutched desperately in his hand. Without even realizing it he had squeezed the buttons and turned on the Christmas ring medley that he had set up to make Hyoga choose from…

_**Deck the halls with boughs of holly!**_

_**Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!**_

_**Tis the Season to be jolly!**_

_**Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!**_

The strange all too familiar and human sound had made the wolves pause and fall back, circling carefully. They were unsure.

_**We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas!**_

_**We wish you a merry Chirstmas! And a Happy New Year!**_

"That's the way Shun!" Seiya's energetic voice beat up as the other warrior struggled to his side finally giving Shun the courage to straighten as the shorter Saint glared and swung his arms wildly at the shaggy wolves.

"Brandish the phone at them Shun!" he encouraged, half shouting and still waving his arms wildly.

_**I saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas day in the morn!**_

Shun brandished the phone at the wolves spinning up the volume as high as it would go and sending a quiet thanks to whatever force that he preferred lively music. The wolves were falling back now, confronted by something they had learned to fear: humans. Seiya was half laughing, half shouting now and struggling forward to chase the creatures further back and Shun was almost surprised to find himself right at the Pegasus Saint's side still pointing and swinging wildly with his phone and then, finally, the Little Drummer Boy came across on his playlist—with the drum beats loud and sharp and human in the deathly still quiet of the wilderness, and the wolves turned and fled.

_**Well the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful!**_

_**And as long as that fire does glow…**_

_**Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!**_

Shun sank against Seiya reaching out to hold onto the other Saint even as he found the Pegasus doing the same. They were alive. Shun was laughing and crying and his playlist had gone full circle to Jingle Bells again, but it didn't matter. He and Seiya were alive—alive!—and they would make it.

Ikki

This time he couldn't have the wrong person, Ikki was sure, because this time the name and address came straight from the mouth of one of the Steel saints themselves, though not the young fox that ran the control room. Slow steady steps took him down the warmly lit hallway of the large ugly grey apartment building where he would find Gerald Freshkin: moderately successful pilot of the private jet, Conaway, whose flight path would have made it the closest craft to the Sarengay's crash and also most likely, the origin of the original strange relay.

403, 404, 405, Ikki counted the doors carefully to 407. Gerald Freshkin really ought to be the man that Ikki was looking for but he also wouldn't be the first or even the second pilot the jaded Saint had hunted down today—but to be fair, the others had only been on suspicion whereas this time his information was supposedly sound. Ikki lifted a hand to knock loudly on the properly marked door ready to start another pointless interrogation when the elevator dinged loudly from a few doors down distracting the Phoenix Saint and making him glance over in annoyance at the intrusion upon his thoughts.

The doors closed behind a tallish looking man with a pair of grocery bags in either hand—unremarkable except for the fact that he took one look at the Phoenix Saint and his poised hand at the door marked 407 and dropped the bags taking off at a run. Gerald Freshkin did not want to be found for some reason and Ikki would stake his life and armor that is was just the reason that _he _did want to find the man. Without ever laying a hand against the wood of 407, Ikki launched himself off after the retreating figure, crushing groceries heedlessly beneath the thick heels of his heavy black boots.

Gerald Freshkin was a pilot and a skinny one that wore glasses at that, and Ikki had grown up on Death Queen Island. The man never even had a chance. Even with the head start he had garnered dropping the grocery bags the man barely made it into the stairwell before he found himself pinned roughly against the wall of the landing without ever having made a single one of the steps. The door swung shut loudly behind the Phoenix and his captive resounding with the odd acoustics of the chilly unused back stairs. Gerald Freshkin was a terrified man.

"I didn't think it would make a difference!" he started protesting and babbling, though Ikki had no idea what the man was talking about. "Probably nobody picked it up anyways!" The writhing figure was half shouting, half pleading now and the Phoenix couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"But I couldn't just leave them—I just set the signal on relay and I'll never talk! So please don't kill me, please!" The man was growing hysterical so Ikki shook the figure hard. It had the desired effect silencing and quieting the form he still held pinned to the wall but no longer with the same vicious force. It seemed he had managed to find another victim on the trail back to their culprit, but maybe this time they had slipped up and left a lead for him to follow. Maybe.

"I'm not going to kill you…Gerald Freshkin I assume." The man nodded timidly and Ikki loosened his grip even further not letting go just yet but no longer threatening or so he hoped. Whatever his intention the poor lanky pilot seemed no less terrified than before.

"I can only guess why you're afraid for your life," Ikki told the shaking figure, "But I can send you to some people that will protect you—_if _you tell me exactly what happened right now, but you lie to me just once and not only do you loose the offer but I ask the rest of my questions the hard way." The extra force he added to his grip on the man at the last could hardly have made his words any clearer, but it was unnecessary as Mr. Freshkin seemed eager to do anything he could to keep his skin in one piece.

Gerald Freshkin, it turned out, was actually a bit of a daredevil of sorts and took mostly dangerous jobs, so when he had received a request to make a pick up rendezvous in the Servin Mountains—a no fly zone—he had made sure that the pay was sufficient and then accepted. He made sure to stress to the Phoenix Saint though, that the contract said only that he was to meet with another plane at a landing and exchange passengers.

So, he had gone out and met with two men that seemed just a pair of thrill seekers and they had all set off for the Servin Mountains and that was when things had started to get too hot for the thrill seeking citizen owner of the Conaway. One of the two men—neither had given a name, but the pay had been sufficient that Freshkin hadn't pressed—but in any case, one of them had carried a private radio which, not too far from the rendezvous point and time, had suddenly started picking up signals. The two men had gotten extremely agitated.

The transmission only lasted a few moments and Gerald hadn't really been able to hear much, but he had caught the words "resistance" and "hostage" and that was when he had started to get nervous. Thrill seeker he might be, but Freshkin was for the most part a law abiding citizen and wanted nothing to do with "hostages" or "resistance." He had never had the time to work up the courage to voice his concerns though, because the private radio had cut off following which his two passengers had both pulled out guns. The pilot seemed almost as affronted as angered and terrified as he relayed this point of the story.

He had been forced to risk all of their lives and his sweet Conaway—it was clear from his tone which would have been the greater loss—and change the course he had so carefully mapped to take them into the Servin's in order to pick up two more men that had apparently been forced to parachute from another vessel, but it had been shortly after with four guns trained on him instead of two and back in the familiar blue territory of the skies that Conaway and its pilot had picked up the mayday that came from Sarengay on its way down.

"I wanted to respond!" Gerald seemed desperate to make Ikki believe, or perhaps the poor law abiding Mr. Freshkin was simply distressed by the thought that he had not been able to do anything. "But they had guns pointed at me! They told me that f I responded they would kill me—I couldn't just leave the other plane and its passengers though…so I did what I could. I put the message on silent relay in hopes that another craft would pick it up and be able to help…" He trailed off finally, looking right at Ikki with no fear for the first time, but instead an almost hopeful expression. "If you're here than the message…"

The Phoenix Saint who had remained silent the entire time simply fixed the man with hard eyes dropped his hands finally and stepped a pace back, shaking his head. Ikki couldn't relieve the man's conscience, but he couldn't really fault Freshkin either. The man's account confirmed everything Ikki had theorized and suspected, and almost guaranteed that abduction had been the primary if not only purpose in taking the Sarengay.

"We got the relay, but the plane and passengers are still…missing." But it had been what…six days now? Six? Hope was slowing dying in the Phoenix Saint, but where hope had failed before he had been able to count on Seiya. Seiya would bring his brother out of this alive and in the meantime Ikki would see the responsible party trussed, tied, and hung out as a welcome home sign for the pair, because that was all _he _could do. Everybody did what they could.

"I can probably give you the relative location that the…the crash happened," Gerald offered, shifting nervously and pulling off his thick lenses to wipe at them with the hem of his shirt. "It was about…"

"Save it!" Ikki cut him off so sharply that the lanky figure actually jumped, but if Freshkin told him the location now, Ikki knew he would never be able to stop himself from hopping right back on the secondary plane he had procured and going straight to the spot.

"Save it," he continued on again in a more normal tone. Daichi would be able to give the location to the two fools who needed to find Seiya and Shun the most and Ikki had his own task to be about.

"What I want to know," he told the wide eyed pilot, "Is where you dropped off the four men with the guns."


	6. Chapter Five

Seiya

Seiya only had a moment to wonder at the white all around him before Shun was at his side lifting him out of the snow and dusting him off. Had he fallen?

The Pegasus Saint couldn't quite seem to remember, but Shun looked scared… He tried to tell the Andromeda Saint that he was fine and everything was going to be okay, but it turned into a bout of coughing midway and Seiya found the only thing he had the strength to do was gasp.

He was sick, Seiya knew. He'd been sick before and Shun hadn't been scared though, so it must be something else. The wolves hadn't come back at all since… Well, he couldn't actually remember how long ago that had been…but Shun had started packing snow against his head every time they stopped. But that was what you were supposed to do when you were sick right? But even as it seemed like some part of him had become nothing more than a strange, too warm fuzz that added haze to his vision and a stumble to his steps, Seiya's determination never faltered.

The world danced in circles around him but Seiya just kept putting one foot in front of the other. He just wished Shun didn't look so scared. Sometimes the Andromeda Saint talked to him, but it didn't really seem to make sense anymore, so the Pegasus Saint did what he could, he just kept trying to assure the sweet green haired Saint that he was fine and they would make it.

"I'll get up," he told Shun even though he was already on his feet. "I'll get up," he promised getting ready to walk on, but Shun had thrown his arms around him and Seiya felt his forehead pressed tightly to the other man's as those slim fingers moved up to either side of his face. Was Shun crying? He couldn't really focus enough to tell, but he could feel that tight, tight grip around him even if he didn't have the strength to return it. He was sick and Shun was crying.

Hyoga

The crackling of the small radio hanging off of the back of Shiryu's pack broke into the stillness of the early morning, where Hyoga and the Dragon Saint marched ever onward.

"This is the fox calling from the Den," Daichi's voice crackled out reminding Hyoga far too much of that original mayday that still haunted his every night. "Come in Dragon and Cygnus. I repeat this is the Fox. Come in. Over." Hyoga hurried up to pull the little black box from Shiryu's back lifting it before his mouth as the Dragon Saint half turned to watch him. Shiryu had left all of the radio communication to Hyoga up until this point, but right now was not one of the scheduled check-ins.

"Cygnus here, we read you loud and clear Fox. What is it? Over." Hyoga would not let his hopes get up over this. Daichi could just be bored for all he knew or it could have absolutely nothing to do with Shun and Seiya…but then again… Shiryu still hadn't spoken a word, but the every present hint of desperation that had taken up residence in the other man's face was out in full force and trained completely on the black piece in the Cygnus Saints hands.

"We have determined the approximate location of the Sarengay to be about 4-5 days due North from your present location on the GPS. Over."

"You found them?" Hyoga found himself begging the little black piece hoping against hope in his heart and forgetting to even add 'over' to the end of his message. North—the blue eyed warrior found himself unconsciously adjusting his course already and his long black haired companion was already scanning the horizon.

"Negative," the choppy radio replied plummeting the hope that had dared flutter up in his heart but not crushing it entirely. They knew where they were going now, and that was something.

"It's in the center of a complete radio blackout so we can't send a plane, but we are setting up a rescue helicopter at the closest facility with Captain Davenport himself, that will be willing to take any risks at all to bring them out once they've been found. So, I repeat, Dragon, Cygnus, 4-5 days due North from your position. Over."

"Roger that," Hyoga responded, and Shiryu spoke for the first time in a long while.

"Four, Five days…" The long haired Saint's eyes never left the horizon. "We'll make it in three." Hyoga nodded feeling that little bit of hope growing inside him once again. _Hold on Shun, Seiya, _he prayed. _We're coming!_

Shun

Shun had to be practical. He was terrified, but even completely scared as he was he had to think or he would just give up and despair and then they would both die… Seiya was not good, and Shun was in no condition to do this alone—when Seiya couldn't walk anymore… He could hardly carry the other man with his right arm useless and packed tightly against his ribs in a sort of makeshift sling beneath his coats. Besides, he felt weak and lightheaded himself and they were both simply growing weaker. Shun had to be practical.

There was no food out here to be had, and supposedly a human could survive up to a full month without food, but realistically the Andromeda Saint would have to reason that after about another week hunger would probably leave him too weak to move. The scariest thing was though, that they didn't have a week. Seiya was sick—very sick. Shun felt tears welling in his eyes. If they hadn't found something within a couple of days…Seiya wasn't going to make it. For all that the Pegasus Saint still threw himself into the battle against this cursed wilderness, for all that he was still Seiya and still giving 110 percent—he was dying and Shun just didn't know what to do anymore.

About an hour ago they had come to a river; a big, wide, deep, roaring river, so cold that ice touched its every edge into the rocks and there was no way across. Even if either of them had the strength to make that kind of a swim any longer a dip in that kind of freezing cold would spell certain death for them now, but Seiya was dying anyways and it just wasn't fair! They had tried so hard and come so far…

But that was the road to despair and it wasn't going to save either of them. There might be a place to cross further up or down the river but Seiya wasn't going to make it that far, and the Andromeda Saint would never leave the other man behind.

"Shun." Seiya's voice sounded oddly serious and coherent above the roaring river of the snow covered bank on which the Andromeda Saint sat. The Pegasus himself had stood up and was swaying on his feet. Shun felt his heartbeat coming faster for some reason as he watched his fellow Saint. Seiya looked so determined…

"What is it Seiya?" he asked gently, not knowing entirely what to expect from his fevered companion, but the black haired man seemed coherent enough right now.

"You can't stop Shun," Seiya was telling him as he continued to sway and the light green haired Saint was suddenly aware of how close the other man was to the river's edge.

"What are you talking about Seiya?" Shun asked worriedly, trying to force his aching tired limbs to bring him to his feet.

"I'll get up Shun, I promise, but you have to keep going." Seiya was smiling now—smiling goodbye and Shun couldn't even make his own legs hold him up.

"Seiya don't!" Shun begged, even as fatigue made him slip down onto his hands and knees. "Don't leave me alone!" Shun was crying, he could feel the wetness warm against his cold cheeks, but Seiya was still smiling that terrible heartbreaking goodbye.

"Don't stop Shun," the Pegasus said one more time before throwing himself into the river to fight against the deadly currents and cold.

"Seiya!" The scream ripped from Shun's throat echoing in the silence of the nothingness that surrounded them and the roaring rush of Seiya's final opponent.

Ikki

What was he missing! Ikki wanted to scream and curse and break something, but he was currently on his way back to the Kiddo Foundation in the secondary jet he had borrowed. There just wasn't room to throw a tantrum and he still needed every single paper he had laid out across the seats in front of him—even the god damn overhead on which he had crossed out five of the names with a deep dark marker.

Gerald Freshkin had left his four gunmen just outside of a little city called Maghwin, where they had seemingly just disappeared. Maghwin was a speck out in the middle of nowhere but it did have one train station with an old train that ran to only three locations—accessible to four of the original nine companies and all on the ocean. That felt important too, but Ikki just couldn't seem to make the pieces come together.

EC Enterprises, Do Co Mo, Shaparel Networking, and Nodiesop, were the only four names he hadn't crossed out on that ridiculous overhead. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way—maybe the most important clue was that this unknown enemy was able to connect Saori Kiddo and Athena and then Seiya and Shun as Saints of Athena.

EC Enterprises, Do Co Mo, Shaparel Networking, and Nodiesop… Maghwin's train ran to three locations all near the ocean… Somebody who knew Athena and wanted to extort something from her…

The plane tipped slightly, dipping delicately to one side for some reason or another and Ikki muttered curses at the pilot under his breath as his papers on the companies tried to slide off the seats and the overhead fell to the floor despite his efforts. Muttering, Ikki bent over to pick up the damn thing and then froze with his hand halfway there staring at the page as everything suddenly clicked into place.

The overhead was upside down and all of the names backwards across the floor, and now the culprit stood out clear amongst them—Nodiesop…or as seen backwards: Poseidon or rather, Julian Solo. Who owned a whole string of companies right along the ocean. Who knew both Athena and Saori Kiddo. And, most importantly, who had always wanted an acceptance to his proposal to a one lavender haired head of the Kiddo Foundation which he had never received.

Nodiesop—Ikki's thoughts grew calculating and cold as he began to make his plans for

Solo. It would have to be done very, very carefully.


	7. Chapter Six: END

Shiryu

"That river must be huge," Hyoga remarked over the roar that had grown steadily louder as he and Shiryu continued their steady track upwards. The Dragon Saint wasn't really listening to the other, lost in his own grim wanderings, but he wouldn't have bothered to dignify such a self evident statement with a response in any case. They had heard the first roarings of the river almost 20 minutes ago and unless Seiya's misfortune had thrown his nature senses off completely—and he wasn't discounting the possibility-then the rushing source of the roaring whoosh should be just beyond the next crest.

"Shiryu are you listening," Hyoga began to start again, annoyed, but the Dragon Saint never got the chance to assure his blond companion just how much he didn't care, because a scream split through the air over the din of the river reverberating in the quiet. A scream that Shiryu knew well, for if was brother to that on the very last of Sarengay's mayday that had played like a broken record eating away at his soul and sent a rush of hope surging through him even as his throat closed over with urgency.

Seiya—and Shun's had been the heart wrenching scream. Shiryu didn't even know how he had gotten his pack off so quickly or how snow drifts once so deep and troublesome seemed no longer to slow his feet; all he knew was that suddenly he was moving toward the sound of the voice and where it had come from close up the river.

_Close!_ His own heartbeat pounded in his ears and Hyoga's curses grew further behind as he left the Cygnus still struggling with his own pack. _Seiya… _The Dragon Saint barely slowed as he burst finally through the sparse trees that stretched out to drop branches into the freezing waters, dead and bare with winter and crackling away noisily around his grasping hands. _Seiya…_

The screaming and crying continued from just up the river where a bright mop of green above a huge brown coat indicated Shun running toward him down the far bank in a desperate half stumbling…No. Not toward him.

Ice crunched beneath Shiryu's boots as he moved heedlessly out into the shallows off the ice-ice cold river. _Seiya! _Shun was running down the bank and screaming after Seiya who was no more than a bobbing blue and black mass struggling in the very center of the torrents. Shiryu wasn't sure he was breathing at all anymore until a sharp exhale was forced from his lungs as he charged heedlessly into the freezing waters.

Seiya was fighting but the current was pulling him down and under, throwing his precious form about amongst the rocks in its white frothy fury—and Seiya was growing weaker. His arms and legs thrashed, but less and less and the river continued to bore him away from Shun…and toward the waiting Dragon. _Seiya!_

The cold rush of the current was a wild force that tried to pull Shiryu away from his goal as the long black haired Saint threw himself bodily into its currents holding his position like a stone amongst the natural debris that pushed and were forced to move around the rock solid figure. _Seiya!_

He could see the determined eyes—now opened, now closed—unseeing and lost to vertigo as the Pegasus was dunked again and again, but he forced himself back to the surface every time. Shiryu was so scared, so cold, so relieved—so many things, but also so proud. Seiya was a fighter and that is what he had fallen in love with. The raw wild determination that made him struggle away from a plane crash and through the icy waters…and now it was Shiryu's turn to take the fight and support the Pegasus.

One final shove into the roar and Shiryu was no longer able to brace himself against the bottom, but his momentum brought him with a surge to curl ice bitten, soaked gloves around the blue of the sopping coat and pull Seiya to him, resting the back of the tired struggling head against his shoulder and letting the current drag them slightly downstream even as he worked carefully with the precious gasping burden grasped tightly between his hands back to the shore. Somewhere in the background he could hear Shun crying and Hyoga yelling 'we've found them' and calling for their rescue, but he could hardly move his eyes from the slowly breathing figure lying back against his shoulder as he dragged them both up out of the roaring fury, pulling at the last with his hand through the crunching ice of the shallows. The added weight of all their sopping layers dragged against the shore finally and then the pair just lay there and breathed.

Lying on the bank of the frozen river Shiryu left his arms wrapped around the most precious thing in his life and thanked god that he'd had one more chance to be there for his foolish fighter.

Shun

Shun just couldn't seem to make himself stop crying, but it was a different kind of wetness that streamed down his face now and into Hyoga's turtleneck and shook his hands threatening to spill the hot chocolate he held tightly in them from his spot right at Hyoga's side, with the comforting arms wrapped tightly around him. They were saved and the wetness on Shun's cheeks was all relief and happiness.

He had come so close—so close—to watching Seiya throw his life away in order to give him a better chance to go on…but they were safe now. Seiya was safe, and Hyoga was there.

It had been agonizing to wait on the other side of the river as Hyoga radioed for their rescue and Shiryu saved Seiya from the icy rushing river, but even as the Dragon Saint had begun pulling Seiya into his arms to lift him up, the steady beating of a helicopter had begun to descend picking up both Shun and then the other three and the pilot had been Davenport.

That was when Shun had started crying, because it was Davenport and he had had blankets and food and hot chocolate waiting for them and then the tears had just kept on coming. He'd held onto Hyoga so tightly and felt the reassuring words he'd so longed to hear and he'd held onto Seiya too for a moment just to reassure himself that the other man was really okay and try to erase that terrible last moment before he entered the river from his mind along with the terror that that was the last time he would ever see his friend.

Only for a moment though because though Shiryu had had to strip his own sodden clothes away for the replacements that were stocked with their rescue he had not been keen to let go of the Pegasus for long. Shiryu was holding onto Seiya like he would never let him go and the Pegasus Saint was alright—cold had sent his already sick and wearied body straight to sleep in the warmth and he hadn't put two words together since his desperate struggle with the river, but his breaths were deep and strong and his had one hand fisted in Shiryu's hair even as he slept. It was enough.

Hyoga's arms were around him, and Shun was safe and warm. The Andromeda Saint felt his partner shift slightly and the steaming cup was lifted from his hands as Shun felt himself too, drift off toward sleep.

Ikki

Seiya, Shun, Shiryu, Ikki and Hyoga all clothed in the shining Bronze Armors and with a sort of grim satisfaction, sat their places at the end of the room behind the figure of Athena—and Ikki would continue to call her that no matter what—who was coldly refusing the proposal of a one Julian Solo. It was but a few days after Seiya and Shun's rescue from the ordeals of the snow and both could probably still use a few days of rest—a fact of which Ikki was not likely to forget with the way Shiryu's eyes flickered to him disapprovingly at intervals between trying to keep watch on Seiya and still track every movement of Julian Solo. It was futile effort and Ikki had done what was necessary.

The problem had been that for all that Nodiesop was Poseidon spelled backwards, or Mr. Solo the only one with the foreknowledge to have planned such a botched kidnapping, there simply was no proof, and without that, Athena's as well as his own hands were tied away from getting around the sleek blue haired businessman's neck. And as satisfying as trying to take revenge on the man by force might be, it simply wasn't practical. Saints were no more impervious to bullets than the next man, nor were they any more above the law, but Julian Solo had not won, and that was the key that Ikki would be sure was driven and driven home hard—which was why all five Saints sat boldly in presence behind Athena.

Despite the fact that when he'd first brought up the need Shiryu had adamantly protested and Shun had started crying. He might have caved at those tears too, or at least allowed that as long as Seiya was present it wouldn't matter whether the Andromeda could be seen or not for all that Seiya was the worse off of the pair, but it had been the Pegasus himself that was the first to back the Phoenix's plans from his cozy nook in that huge damn couch which Ikki had also been in charge of moving in the first place… Had Shiryu and Hyoga moved anything at all?

Seiya had wanted to face down Julian Solo for himself and that had been the end of it. It had silenced Shiryu and dried Shun's tears and even put a little backbone into Hyoga, and now here they were. Grim faced and imposing and each of them looking deadly and as though none of the past week had even taken place—a careful lie. Shun's sling had been removed for the occasion but he was under strict orders not to move his arm, and Seiya still couldn't move very far without falling flat on his face, but it was the image that counted and the image that they presented was flawless.

Julian Solo was a beaten man. For all his efforts, for all his attempts to gain the upper hand, in the end he had lost—and as Athena refused him coldly and flatly while the accusing eyes of the Bronze Saints bore into him from beyond, Julian Solo met his defeat. Ikki had won.

Shiryu

"Was it terrible?" Shiryu was asking. Seiya tipped his head back from where he had been dozing in front of a movie at Shiryu's side, noticing only then that the ending credits of whatever it was were rolling across the screen. Another time Athena's bad movie selection would have bothered him, but right now he didn't care.

The fire place was crackling merrily, adding its warmth and light into the room and just outside the darkened windows snowflakes could be seen dancing downwards. Seiya was content to just doze in the Dragon Saint's arms as the tape stopped completely and Shiryu's hand moved automatically to shut off the power. The long haired Saint was still staring at Seiya where the other had his legs curled up leaning against him with a certain light in his eyes that said he had to know. Seiya snuggled loser to the tall figure with half closed eyes and a sleepy smile, wrapping his own hands in the soft fleece of the blanket that covered them.

"I missed you," he said, and that was all, because to Seiya that was all that was important and it was enough. The Pegasus fell asleep warm, comfortable, and content with all that was import in the world at his side, and Shiryu just held him.

END

Thank you all for reading and thank you to all who reviewed!

Looking back, my chapters were getting really short! Hope this more satisfying Little Time Kitty!

Thanks for the reviews to bottlecaps and Miss Sto-Helit. I hope to keep writing forever!


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